Japanese Culture

[Deathkillz]

That is tough but the time spent at school isnt all that different from here (in the UK) either.

for me its 8:45am - 4:00pm + after school activities if needed.

usually end up waking at around 7:00am to get ready and take the bus O.O

(but its a good thing that cram schools here is largly unheard of )

[Kristen]

Originally Posted by Kang Seung Jae

Korean (high school) students have it tougher: 8 AM to 5~6 PM.

Yuck. Thank gosh for being an American college student who only has 3-4 hours of school at most during the day.

Another radom question, but it has nothing to do with my novel (Link in sig. )

You said that school runs from April-January. Is that a recent change in Japan? Like, I know in the Suzumiya Haruhi series, the Intrigues and Indignations books occurred in February and March with school life going on. But, I don't know whether this is just an error on the author's part or what.
Edit: Yeah, here's the quote that confusled me:

Originally Posted by The indignation of Suzumiya Haruhi

It was now March, and the end of term exams had just ended. Many schools were already making holiday preparations, and that of course included North High. Now normally this would be the time to quietly wait for the school holidays, but apparently someone had suggested "Don't we have better things to do instead of waiting for time to pass?" As a result, various intramural sports had been planned, and incorporated into the school's holiday preparations.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by ChrissieXD

Yuck. Thank gosh for being an American college student who only has 3-4 hours of school at most during the day.

Another radom question, but it has nothing to do with my novel (Link in sig. )

You said that school runs from April-January. Is that a recent change in Japan? Like, I know in the Suzumiya Haruhi series, the Intrigues and Indignations books occurred in February and March with school life going on. But, I don't know whether this is just an error on the author's part or what.

I'm also an university student, so we're in the same situation.


Sorry, a Japanese school year is April-Feburary, with March being a sort of slack-off period. I keep forgetting that Japan is a 3-term system.

[Kristen]

Korean college works on the credit system as well? That's impressive. I though the US was the only one that had it like that, and most other countries were in an 8-4 schedule. Maybe that's just Austria...

Anyways, Japanese culture is just fascinating. From school life to language to everyday city life. I want to study abroad there at some "Kansai University" we can go to for a summer and be taught in English.

[Autumn Demon]

I've seen this a lot in anime: guys get nosebleeds when aroused.

Does this really happen in Japan? or anywhere? ever?!


P.S.
my school day starts at 7:30

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by Autumn Demon

I've seen this a lot in anime: guys get nosebleeds when aroused.

Does this really happen in Japan? or anywhere? ever?!


P.S.
my school day starts at 7:30

Class starts at 7:30, or do you have to get there by then?


Nosebleed: It's just a folk-belief that sexual excitement in men leads to a change in blood-pressure, which in turn can cause a nose-bleed.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Kang Seung Jae

Korean (high school) students have it tougher: 8 AM to 5~6 PM.

You know some times I think that I would not have survived if I stayed in Korea. Because there is no way in hell I would study until 6PM since I am lazy bastard. Though my friend in New York have it worse, he has to go to school which is around 7:30 or so and then he then has to go to cram school and come home at freaking 9PM.

[SooHip]

Question: At jap. highschools are there cliques that exist?
I mean in where I live (Canada), there doesnt seem to be cliques.
I think its just a mental hollywood image of a typical highschool

[Thingle]

Why place so much importance on preparing for entrance tests?

[Kyuusai]

Originally Posted by Thingle

Why place so much importance on preparing for entrance tests?

Well, in a culture where every one takes entrance exams so seriously, deciding to not prepare with such intense studying is as good as giving up on their choice of school for most people.

[Vexx]

@SooHip: in Japan, there are the usual "social groups" but they're more closely tied to either the class you're assigned to or the club you belong to. There's a lot of pressure to belong to 'approved groupings'.

@Thingle: Entrance exams are gateways to the next part of life ... blow them off and you fail at life pretty much (social circles, class, standard of living, selection of mates, etc). Europe also places a fair amount of importance on entrance exams to high school and college (though they seem less frantic about it).

[NoSanninWa]

Originally Posted by SooHip

Question: At jap. highschools are there cliques that exist?
I mean in where I live (Canada), there doesnt seem to be cliques.
I think its just a mental hollywood image of a typical highschool

It's not just a Hollywood thing. I'm rather surprised that it doesn't exist in your Canadian high school since it certainly existed in my US high school.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by Thingle

Why place so much importance on preparing for entrance tests?

Because unlike the US, there's only one test an year. (If we focus on the SAT and such)

[HASHIRIYA]

Originally Posted by Autumn Demon

I've seen this a lot in anime: guys get nosebleeds when aroused.

Does this really happen in Japan? or anywhere? ever?!


P.S.
my school day starts at 7:30

no... tho there is a lot of 'fantasy' (role play, other carp like that) over there, the whole complete sex industry follows the traits of living in fantasy. not to mention the whole industry it self and age of consent is a shocking, esp in Tokyo.

th whole thing from host clubs is something that is based on the element of fantasy it self. when we walked in to one of the erotic shops on the main drag Aki it was more like a costume shop more than anything else.

i mainly spent my time over in Osaka and around the industrial areas, checking out the car scene over there. road over in japan are like the best esp in the industrial ares as they so wide perfect for late night hooning

[solidified]

Question: Are there alot of Catholic schools there? Or is it mostly normal public schools?

[Vexx]

Ummmm, Japan is primarily a Buddhist/Shinto country. There are very few *christian* schools of any type as there are very few christians (even those few persons that say they are christian often will also say they're buddhist and shinto --- practicing all three).
The schools are majority public with a number of private secular schools and a small industry of additional cram/tutoring academies.

The schools are "public" but you have to pass an entrance exam to get into high schools (some standards higher than others) and your parents pay directly (unlike the 'school district' taxes US parents pay for public schools). There's more complexity but that's enough for a short post.

[User65554]

Are there any comprehensive schools in Japan? That is, schools that don't select students based on academic attainment/aptitude, and could have students of any ability.

[Vexx]

I'm not going to say there aren't simply because in the rural areas there isn't the sort of luxury to have more than one school in an area (see Lamune). But most schools in large towns to the size of Tokyo select the best students that apply -- and schools get their reputations by how many graduates are able to get into the better universities. Therefore after a lot of sifting most students now know which schools will get them how far, how much of a pressure cooker each is, and so on. All schools have their own minimum standards and most flex depending on how many of the incoming applicants they need to stay solvent.

Its no different than applying to, say, Stanford, MIT, or RIce University ... versus applying to your community college (and steps in between).

[Dxon]

As fun it seems in Anime's the Japanese Culture is real tough for kids. Most suicides are by kids because of all the pressure.
Also some reports of suicide partys. People gather to kill themselves at the same time.. :/

[Vexx]

And I'll hope you realize that those reports are very much the exceptional unusual situation and not the norm --- newspaper journalism in Japan (much like other countries) tends to focus on the sensational rather than the investigative.

That said, the rate of suicide in Japan tends to be higher than other industrialized countries -- mostly because of the historical lack of shame associated with it. Historically, it was act of atonement for having failed in some way. Unfortunately, it is also a method of escape for the bullied and the "different" who seek to escape the "sin of being a square peg in a round hole".